<\/p>\n
Sat, May 2 20262:40 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel doesn’t see a single successor to Charlie Munger as his top adviser<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked who will play the Charlie Munger to his Warren Buffett, new CEO Greg Abel didn’t name a single person but talked about the team that surrounds him.<\/p>\n“You surround yourself with great people, and they’re already here,” he said.<\/p>\nAbel mentioned Adam Johnson, who serves as president of Berkshire’s consumer products, service, and retailing businesses and leads NetJets.\u00a0He also mentioned Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations, and Katie Farmer, the CEO of BNSF Railway. All three of these executive spent some time on stage with Abel on Saturday. <\/p>\n“Across our CEOs, we’re so fortunate to have a great group that I would reach out to any of them on a specific circumstance and ask them for their input,” Abel said.<\/p>\n\u2013Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:17 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel says he does not see Berkshire breaking up or divesting subsidiaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel said he does not anticipate Berkshire Hathaway will ever break up or divest of its subsidiaries, in answer to a shareholder question to that point. He emphasized the lack of bureaucracy within Berkshire’s structure, as well as the conglomerate’s unique ability to move capital across groups. <\/p>\n“We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate,” Abel said. “We don’t have layers of management.” <\/p>\n“We don’t see divesting of subsidiaries for that reason or breaking up the group,” he concluded. <\/p>\n\u2014 Sarah Min<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:14 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel on potential for divesting businesses: ‘It has to be a relationship that works’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhile Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\nAbel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Asked who will play the Charlie Munger to his Warren Buffett, new CEO Greg Abel didn’t name a single person but talked about the team that surrounds him.<\/p>\n
“You surround yourself with great people, and they’re already here,” he said.<\/p>\n
Abel mentioned Adam Johnson, who serves as president of Berkshire’s consumer products, service, and retailing businesses and leads NetJets.\u00a0He also mentioned Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations, and Katie Farmer, the CEO of BNSF Railway. All three of these executive spent some time on stage with Abel on Saturday. <\/p>\n
“Across our CEOs, we’re so fortunate to have a great group that I would reach out to any of them on a specific circumstance and ask them for their input,” Abel said.<\/p>\n
\u2013Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:17 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel says he does not see Berkshire breaking up or divesting subsidiaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel said he does not anticipate Berkshire Hathaway will ever break up or divest of its subsidiaries, in answer to a shareholder question to that point. He emphasized the lack of bureaucracy within Berkshire’s structure, as well as the conglomerate’s unique ability to move capital across groups. <\/p>\n“We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate,” Abel said. “We don’t have layers of management.” <\/p>\n“We don’t see divesting of subsidiaries for that reason or breaking up the group,” he concluded. <\/p>\n\u2014 Sarah Min<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:14 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel on potential for divesting businesses: ‘It has to be a relationship that works’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhile Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\nAbel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20262:17 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel says he does not see Berkshire breaking up or divesting subsidiaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel said he does not anticipate Berkshire Hathaway will ever break up or divest of its subsidiaries, in answer to a shareholder question to that point. He emphasized the lack of bureaucracy within Berkshire’s structure, as well as the conglomerate’s unique ability to move capital across groups. <\/p>\n“We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate,” Abel said. “We don’t have layers of management.” <\/p>\n“We don’t see divesting of subsidiaries for that reason or breaking up the group,” he concluded. <\/p>\n\u2014 Sarah Min<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:14 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel on potential for divesting businesses: ‘It has to be a relationship that works’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhile Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\nAbel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Abel said he does not anticipate Berkshire Hathaway will ever break up or divest of its subsidiaries, in answer to a shareholder question to that point. He emphasized the lack of bureaucracy within Berkshire’s structure, as well as the conglomerate’s unique ability to move capital across groups. <\/p>\n
“We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate,” Abel said. “We don’t have layers of management.” <\/p>\n
“We don’t see divesting of subsidiaries for that reason or breaking up the group,” he concluded. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Sarah Min<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20262:14 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel on potential for divesting businesses: ‘It has to be a relationship that works’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhile Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\nAbel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20262:14 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel on potential for divesting businesses: ‘It has to be a relationship that works’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhile Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\nAbel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
While Abel said Berkshire aims to keep the companies it purchases, there are some situations where it may need to consider a sale.<\/p>\n
“When we buy something, it’s forever. When we acquire a utility, we tell the regulators it’s forever,” Abel said.<\/p>\n
“But it has to be a relationship that works,” he said. “If it’s broken, we’ll find a better path.”<\/p>\n
Abel said there could be hard-to-resolve labor issues or reputational risks that could lead Berkshire to divest a business.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20261:52 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, Johnson says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAdam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\nWhile acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing, said higher costs \u2014 including periods of $100-a-barrel oil \u2014 have started to dent demand in some areas.<\/p>\n
“On the consumer product side, on the real retail side, it has affected some of the demand,” Johnson said, <\/p>\n
While acknowledging the pressure, Johnson said the businesses are accustomed to managing through volatility.<\/p>\n
“We’re prepared to deal with those things and make adjustments where we need to. But this certainly is affecting, I would say, some of the retail businesses and some of the consumer product businesses,” Johnson said. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20261:32 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett’s message to shareholders and partners: Follow the ‘Golden Rule’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\nWhile the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Buffett said that the top rule shareholders and partners should follow is treating others as they wish to be treated \u2014 otherwise known as the Golden Rule.<\/p>\n
While the former CEO said he’s “not a religious guy,” he stressed that there has never been a better message spoken “in a couple thousand years than that.”<\/p>\n
“If the whole world lived by the Golden Rule, it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “That’s true for everything from parenthood to being a boss.”<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, it’s reflected in better behavior toward you, so I mean it’s a very selfish sort of thing in one sense, but I’ve never seen anybody that’s unhappy that behaves that way,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20261:26 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett: ‘We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now’<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWarren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\nDavid A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\nBuffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\nBuffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Warren Buffett speaks with CNBC during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
David A. Grogan | CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
During the lunch break, Buffett compared “markets to a church with a casino attached,” making a distinction between traditional value investing and current enthusiasm for short-term options trading along with increasing interest in prediction markets.<\/p>\n
“People can move between the church and the casino, and I would say there are more people in the church [than] people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive,” he said. “If you’re buying one-day options or selling them, that’s not investing, it’s not speculating \u2013 it’s gambling.”<\/p>\n
Buffett said the enthusiasm for “gambling” is at a peak.<\/p>\n
“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said.<\/p>\n
Buffett commented on the recent case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified information<\/a> related to a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on a prediction market. The Department of Justice is currently prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
“There’s nobody who can explain why they’re buying an option for one day unless they may have maybe [the chance to make] $400-and-some-thousand from knowing when we were going into Venezuela. \u2026 The quantity of those things is just incredible,” he said. <\/p>\n
— Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20261:19 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGreg Abel returns to the stage for the afternoon session of the Berkshire annual meeting<\/h2>\n\nGreg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\nAbel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Greg Abel retuned to the stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for the afternoon session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. <\/p>\n
Abel is joined by Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad, and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president of consumer products, services and retailing.<\/p>\n
\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 20261:11 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuffett says Berkshire isn’t seeing ideal investing environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBuffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\nBuffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\nPart of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\nWhen asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\nBuffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Buffett acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to records.<\/p>\n
“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area \u2014 or environment, I should say \u2014 in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick.<\/p>\n
Buffett said the conglomerate has the “right management” and can “pick our spots.” While it appears like Berkshire can appear to be doing “nothing” at some points, it’s “quite active” at other times, he said.<\/p>\n
Part of the hesitancy about investing capital was due to high prices in the market, he said. <\/p>\n
When asked when it will be a good time to invest, Buffett said it will come when “nobody else will answer their phones,” a hint to a pullback in market prices.<\/p>\n
Buffett’s comments came during a special sideline interview with CNBC. The Oracle of Omaha sat in the audience during the official meeting.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Alex Harring<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202612:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbel discusses succession plans for Jain and himself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWhen asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
When asked about succession plans for Jain and himself, Abel said that the board approaches issues related to such matters “very seriously.”<\/p>\n
“They have a plan in place, and they discuss it,” he continued. “So, if Ajit were unable to perform in his role today or I was unable to perform, our board knows what action they would take.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sean Conlon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202612:24 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI is ‘still years away’ from tackling complex tasks, Berkshire’s Ajit Jain says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nArtificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\nThe executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Artificial intelligence could eventually be a “game changer,” but the technology’s ability to tackle more complex tasks such as stock picking is “still years away,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n
“If AI becomes reality, as is being projected, then there’s no question about it, it’ll be a huge game changer,” Jain said. But, “right now, what we are seeing is AI being used as a productivity tool, as a mechanism for reducing labor costs and doing routine, repetitive things.”<\/p>\n
The executive added that it is unlikely that AI will reach “a point where you can make a trade off on things like pricing, settling a claim” anytime soon. <\/p>\n
“That is still years away,” Jain said. “If you’re counting on AI to tell you which stock to buy and which one to sell, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAI and the outlook for Berkshire’s businesses dominated morning session<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDuring the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\nThat included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\nThe executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\nThe freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
During the morning session, Abel focused a lot on the outlook for the various business segments. Artificial intelligence also was a key theme. <\/p>\n
That included Abel saying that his team is making moves to build out AI-powered solutions that could improve BNSF Railways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There’s no question \u2026 this could be used across our other businesses,” Abel said, referring to the emerging technology. “We would build what we needed ourselves and deliver solutions back to our customers, a massive challenge, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”<\/p>\n
The executive noted that engineers and developers were hired to build those solutions. BNSF’s senior technology officer has also helped “drive forward” the business’ transformation. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The freight transportation firm has come under pressure in recent years amid declining freight volumes. In response to its financial difficulties, BNSF did several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Liz Napolitano<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202612:09 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBerkshire’s morning session has concluded<\/h2>\n\nThe morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The morning session of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting has concluded. While shareholders at the CHI Health Center take a break, programming on CNBC will continue, including an upcoming interview between CNBC’s Becky Quick and Buffett. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christina Cheddar Berk<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202612:03 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAjit Jain on insuring ships through Hormuz: ‘Depends on the price’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAsked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\nBerkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\nU.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Asked about how and when he could offer insurance to ships crossing the embattled Strait of Hormuz, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations Ajit Jain gave a pithy response.<\/p>\n
“The short answer is \u2013 depends on the price,” he said, getting laughter and applause from the audience.<\/p>\n
Berkshire is participating in a “program” to insure ships moving through Hormuz, which has been closed or severely restricted during much of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but hasn’t written any deals for it yet, Jain said.<\/p>\n
“We ourselves have taken a small participation in a program that’s [been] put in place so as to write insurance for the ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We haven’t written any deals as yet,” he said. <\/p>\n
U.S. Navy escorts for transiting ships will be a condition of the underwriting process for the program, Jain said.<\/p>\n
“It’s still being fine tuned,” he said. “But if we can get our terms \u2013 in terms of the underwriting decisions and the fact that the U.S. Navy will escort these ships \u2013 we have put a price on which we will be comfortable underwriting that risk. But nothing’s happened as yet.”<\/p>\n
—Tobias Burns<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Sat, May 2 202611:46 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Abel views Berkshire’s sprawling equity portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAttendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\nDan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAbel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\nHe described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Attendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. <\/p>\n
Dan Brouillette | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Abel offered fresh insight into how he views the company’s sprawling equity portfolio, emphasizing a concentrated approach anchored by a handful of core holdings.<\/p>\n
He described what he called the “core four” positions \u2014 Apple<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, American Express<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Moody’s<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Coca-Cola<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 as the foundation of Berkshire’s equity investments.<\/p>\nHe also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\nBeyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
He also pointed to the conglomerate’s sizable stakes in Japanese trading houses as another key pillar of the portfolio, emphasizing a long-term commitment to these companies. <\/p>\n
Beyond those anchors, Abel highlighted several other significant holdings, including Bank of America<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Chevron<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Alphabet<\/a><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Berkshire bought about $4 billion of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\nAbel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Abel is taking a more active role in overseeing the firm’s investments, saying he will actively manage it by adding to or rightsizing them at times. He added that he is “absolutely collaborating” with Buffett on the investments.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Yun Li<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n